


Play the Part

by HushTheNoise



Category: The Wicked + The Divine
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate universe where Laura finds the murderer and Luci's free to go, Except maybe in a dream, F/F, Issue #5 never happened, wedding au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 23:34:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2525789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HushTheNoise/pseuds/HushTheNoise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura needs a date for a wedding, and Luci's less than thrilled to be her first choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Play the Part

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in a universe where most things are the same, except Laura found the killer and Luci walked. Issue #5 just never happened, okay. Let me live in my denial. 
> 
> Apologies to any folk who actually live in Framlingham.

“A wedding. In _Framlingham_.” She hasn’t uttered the words outright, but Luci’s tone makes it very clear what her answer is: Fuck. _That._

Of course, Laura would have asked someone else if she could have, but her friends are virtually nonexistent these days and she isn’t as close with the other gods as she is with Luci. Not to mention that the kind of impression she wants to make will best be made with someone like Luci at her side.

Now if only she could convince her to do it.

“It’s only for two days, food and lodging’s included, it’ll be fun, like a vacation,” Laura wheedles, giving Luci a wide, sweet smile. The god isn’t buying it.

“Really. You’re going to lie? To _me?_ ” she replies with a snort, taking a drag from the cigarette dangling between her elegant fingers. “Look, I love a party as much as the next god, but A) weddings are an awful bore, and B) it’s in _Framlingham_. Which means extra of ‘A’. No, don’t give me that look. I like you, Laura, but I’m not some demon hound you can yank around at your whim.”

Laura chews on a thumbnail in frustration. The last thing she wants to do is confess her motivation behind this burning need to attend some distant friend’s wedding all of a sudden. It was in two days and definitely a last-minute snap decision.

“Emily has a lot of attractive friends who will be there?”

“Please.”

“The food’ll be great?”

“Doubt it.”

“There’s an open bar?”

"Why can't you get one of your friends to take you?" Luci asks irritably, only to be met with awkward silence. Finally she heaves a sigh in defeat, flicking ash off the end of her cig. “All right, all right.” Laura gives her a wide grin, and Luci rolls her eyes. “I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing it for the booze. Now, what time am I picking you up?”

*****

Friday is the meet-and-greet luncheon, something which Luci is very vocally against attending.

“You mentioned booze and attractive people, there was nothing in the itinerary about _that_.”

“It’ll be an hour and a half, tops, and everyone will probably be too afraid of you to talk to you,” Laura reasons with a sigh, already sure that this is a conversation they’ll be having any time they need to do anything involving people this weekend.

“Are there going to be a lot of these social activities? Because my flask can only hold so much scotch,” Luci retorts dryly, sounding like she’s regretting this weekend already. Laura’s quickly getting there as well.

“It’s just the luncheon today, then the wedding and the reception tomorrow. That’s it. Think you can handle that?” Laura’s tone holds a wry challenge, and Luci offers a smirk in return.

“Oh, I’ll be nothing short of the perfect date," she answers as they reach the ornate door of their assigned room in the Crown Point Hotel, home sweet home for the weekend. It's really more of a suite, Laura realizes, with a small kitchenette attached to the sitting room and the bed off to the side in a room of its own. There's a large window directly ahead, overlooking the courtyard, and sunlight streams in through it, illuminating the pastel yellow of the walls.

"Quaint," is Luci's only remark as she ambles past Laura, overnight bag hanging off her shoulder as she takes in the politely bland landscapes on the walls. "Is there just the single bed? Don't expect me to put out," she calls back as pokes her head into the bedroom.

Laura rolls her eyes, dropping her bag on the sofa and moving to the window to gaze out at the white lawn chairs and cloth umbrellas. It’s not like she hasn’t thought about it before, when it’s late at night and she can’t sleep, what it’d be like to get the same treatment from Luci that Sekhmet and Inanna and who knows who else has gotten.

She’s being ridiculous of course, Luci probably still doesn’t see her as anything more than a silly fangirl aspiring to the impossible, even if she _did_ manage to help exonerate her.

Whatever, it's just for the weekend. And she knows if anyone can put on a hell of a show, it's Luci. 

*****

Laura appears to have been right, and the party at the courtyard luncheon that afternoon-- comprised of people who appear to be below 30, save for parents and grandparents-- seems torn between morbid curiosity from those who don't buy into the reincarnated gods schtick, and downright terror from those who do.

Laura makes nice with some of the guests and the bride-- Emily, was it?-- while Luci sits beside her, bored disinterest on her features, save when Laura turns to ask her for confirmation about some event or another that she made up for the benefit of the guests. Luci's actually impressed with her acting chops when she gets right down to it, Laura seems to shine with every saccharine lie that drops from her lips. She has all the guests convinced that they’re madly in love.

Luci is brought out of her thoughts by a question she doesn't quite manage to catch, her gaze focusing sharply on the clean-cut young man trying to speak to her from across the table. "Sorry?" she prompts, leading him to repeat himself.

"It's all for show, isn't it? You lot don't really buy into the whole 'reincarnated gods who work miracles' bull your marketing team spouts?" he asks, voice slimy with condescension, and Luci's aware of Laura's attention snapping to the conversation at hand.

Luci smiles, all teeth as she pulls out a cigarette and holds it between her fingers. "That doesn't really matter, does it? It's not about whether I believe it, it's whether you do." There's a muffled click from her other hand, index slapping against the soft flesh beneath her thumb, which ignites long enough for her to light the cig. She could level entire cities with a snap, start fires that would destroy civilizations, but she doesn't. She keeps herself restrained, tiny clicks with her weakest fingers. Got to appease the jury if she wants to be deemed good enough to return in another ninety years.

"Maybe this is a parlor trick. Maybe it's not. But even though _I_ know what I am, it's what everyone else believes that ultimately counts, isn't it?" She catches Laura looking at her, the thin veil of exasperated amusement not reaching the determined longing in her green eyes. She yearns for this kind of life, the silly twit, seeing the power and glamour that comes with it and nearly nothing else.

And sure, the gig is good, but the ending... the ending is shit.

The group titters uncomfortably for a few moments before conversations gradually move back to other topics, and Luci contents herself with puffing on her cigarette as she listens to her go on about some holiday she and her family went on, far back enough in the past that Luci wonders just how long it's been since Laura last saw any of these people.

Eventually she leans over, breath tickling the shell of Laura's ear as she whispers, "So which one of your _lovely_ associates am I really here to impress?"

Once Laura's looking a little less inclined to inhale her mimosa, Luci adds, "And _please_ don't say it's the skeptic in the sweatervest, I'd pegged you for better taste than that."

"She's not here yet," Laura answers quietly over the rim of her glass, and Luci appreciates the candor. This weekend will go much more smoothly for the both of them if everyone's on the same page. "She's apparently arriving tomorrow."

"Then why the hell are we still here?"

Laura leans over, a sweet smile on her lips as if she were sharing a private joke, and Luci knows it's for the benefit of the other guests, more of Laura's acting. "Because people talk. More specifically, they talk about _you_."

Luci stares, before a smile slowly spreads across her face. "You must really want to win this break-up."

"It’s not--" Laura sighs, falling back against her chair. "I just want her to see I'm not a total loser after all. It's dumb, I know."

A ring of smoke puffs out of Luci's mouth as the silence hangs between them for a minute.

"If that's the case, then you didn't really need _me_ to be here," she remarks, and Laura turns her head in surprise.

"Too late to get out of it," she replies, but her smile is genuine now.

*****

They walk around the grounds for a while once the party breaks, Laura's feet shuffling through fallen leaves and colorful flowers as they gossip about the other gods and Luci's life among them.

"It's really not so bad, plenty of drama to keep things interesting," Luci tells her, hands sliding into the pockets of her pristine white jacket. "I'm sure the same goes for the underground scene."

"I've been wondering about that... Aren't you technically part of the underground scene, too?" Laura asks, and immediately regrets it when Luci stops short.

"Yes. But that wasn't entirely my decision," she replies curtly, before sighing and falling back in step with Laura. "The Morrigan, Baphomet, they thrive down there. For me it's... stifling."

It's a rare moment of openness that Laura's rarely seen from the god. She's done enough of her research to be familiar with the traditional Lucifer lore. It's easy to see how the angel of light might be averse to living in the suffocating darkness of subway tunnels.

"Besides, my show is much better suited for a proper stage," Luci continues, hand casually rising to pick a small purple flower out of Laura's hair. "And you? What would your show be like if you got what you so desperately want?"

The question is one that Laura hasn't stopped turning over in her mind for at least a year, and she's still no closer to an answer. It's unbelievably frustrating.

"I... don't know," she admits, glad when Luci doesn't seem surprised in the least. "I've taken years of theater, voice classes... But I have no idea. I guess I'm hoping it'll come to me when it happens."

"You sound so sure that it will," Luci says, though she sounds admiring of the fact.

Laura shrugs, though she’s still warm from the unspoken compliment. "I know what I want. At least, I know I want this."

"Can't ask for a better start than that," Luci replies as they turn to head back into the lobby.

*****

With the events all wrapped up for the day, and the wedding bright and early tomorrow, Laura decides that it's probably best to tuck in early.

"Ugh, I can't recall the last time I actually slept a full night," Luci complains as Laura changes in the bathroom. Gods don't exactly need all eight hours on a regular basis, and Luci's prone more to the occasional hour-long nap every couple of weeks. And even _that_ feels like an enormous waste of time to her.

"Well, some of us are still humans with annoying human needs, but feel free to stay up if you want," Laura retorts as she pads out to the bedroom in a forest green t-shirt and black shorts, in the process of wrangling her hair back out of her face. She glances over to where Luci is resting atop the bed in a white sleeveless top and pajama bottoms. "You could always watch TV, I'm sure it's positively _riveting_ at this hour of the night."

Luci allows herself a brief glance at those long legs, and maybe a peek at Laura’s temptingly biteable collarbones before reaching over to the bedside table and turning on the small lamp. "No thanks, I think I'll just catch up on some reading. But you go right ahead, eight hours, down the drain." She can all but hear Laura roll her eyes as she settles onto the mattress beside her, sliding beneath her half of the covers.

"So long as you're not falling asleep during the wedding, I don't care."

"Believe me, that won't be a problem."

Laura rolls onto her side, her back to Luci and away from the light as she murmurs goodnight. Luci opens the biography of Kurt Cobain she's honestly been meaning to finish for years now, figuring now's as good a time as any. She can hear Laura's breath gradually deepen as it grows steady and she slips into sleep.

There hadn't even been a discussion over the bed, no "I'll take the couch" suggestions, and honestly, Luci didn't really have much of a problem with that. Though the last time she'd shared a bed with someone and _not_ gotten laid, she'd been 10 years old and at a sleepover. It's a shame, too, Laura has a fire to her that Luci would just love to watch blaze. But she's sure insinuating anything might have caused Laura to grab a blanket and head for the couch.

An hour or so ticks by in silence as Luci reads, sometimes glancing at her companion, who appears to be slumbering peacefully. Laura's face is smooth and relaxed, free from the preoccupations of how she presents herself to the world during her waking time. A lock of brown hair is draped across her face, warm breath rustling it gently with each exhale, and Luci’s reaching over almost absently to sweep it aside, when Laura flinches.

Luci pauses, wondering if she'd accidentally awoken her before realizing that no, Laura is still very much asleep. Laura's face contorts in fear, and she utters a soft cry a moment later that has Luci casting her book aside and moving to wake her.

"No... _No!_ " and the horror in Laura's voice increases Luci's urgency to get her out of that dream world _now_.

"Hey... Hey, it's okay, you're safe, wake up," she murmurs quietly, smoothing a warm hand over Laura's face and down her cheek. "It's only a dream, come back to me."

Laura's eyes blink open, faraway and dazed before they focus on Luci's face above her, and relief floods Laura's features. The way she leans into Luci's palm seems almost instinctive, and it lasts only a few moments before she seems properly alert again. "Sorry, did I disturb you?" she asks, going red with embarrassment.

"Just wanted to make sure you woke up before you hit the ground," Luci replies mildly as she withdraws her hand and rolls back to her side of the bed. "Seemed like a nasty dream you were having there."

Laura stares up at the ceiling as she exhales a slow breath. "Yeah." She doesn't say anything else.

Luci reaches for her book again, cracking it open to the page where she'd last left off. She's read through the same sentence five times when Laura speaks up again.

"Hey?"

"Yes?"

"Would you... mind reading to me for a bit?"

Luci glances over in surprise. "It's not exactly light reading," she warns, and Laura gives her a shaky smile.

"It's fine. Please?"

Luci finishes the chapter, and is halfway through the next when Laura finally dozes off again to the quiet murmurs of Luci's voice.

*****

The next morning, breakfast is left outside their rooms in silver plates, eggs, bacon, sausage, fried bread, and two glasses of orange juice.

"Hell of a change from my usual cereal," Laura remarks as she brings it inside with a yawn and sets it on the small table in the living room. Luci's already changed into her outfit for the wedding, a white tux variation of her usual wardrobe. Laura's been trying not to ogle her for the better part of the last half hour.

They eat off the coffee table while discussing the upcoming wedding ceremony, and if she's being perfectly honest, Laura feels about as excited for it as Luci looks. It's not that she mourns the loss of a wedding of her own once she achieves her goal--she was never sure if she ever wanted to get married-- but rather they're just so damn _long_. Yes, beautiful and romantic, but Laura much more prefers the lively parties afterward. From the sound of it, Luci feels the same way.

"Just make sure I get to meet that ex-girlfriend of yours, I'd hate for this whole trip to have been in vain," Luci reminds her as she cleans off her plate.

"Believe me, I'll make sure of it," Laura answers with a snort. "We dated for two years, and she was always very supportive of my theater work, right up until the Pantheon resurfaced and she realized I was serious--"

"About the whole 'becoming a god and dying a violent death in two years' gig, you mean?"

"Yeah, that." Laura's tone is dry as she bites into her toast. As if she’d ever be able to forget, not with her mind helpfully supplying nightmares of Luci’s blood soaking through her shirt. "Anyway, just want her to see that at the very least, I'm close."

Something strange flickers across Luci's expression, though it's gone a moment later in favor of a smirk. "Don't worry, by the time today's over, the jealousy will be eating her alive."

Once they're both through with breakfast, Luci gets to her feet. "I'll leave you to get ready, come find me in the lobby once you're done," she says with a wave over her shoulder as she heads out the door.

Laura swallows down the nervousness trying to climb up her throat. She's faced worse things before than an estranged ex. Compared to her first performance on stage two years ago, this is nothing. Her mind knows this.

Now if only her body would agree.

*****

It's been an hour and a half, and four cigarettes outside in the courtyard, and Luci's winding up to head back to the room to see if Laura might need a hand with her ensemble. She knows Laura's always gone through great pains to find the perfect outfit for each special occasion, and she's sure that in a situation this stressful Laura must be really sweating the details.

She flicks the cig butt into an ashtray before heading back into the lobby. She's just reached the foot of the staircase when she glances up.

Laura's descending the stairs, face set in determination. Luci can't even begin to guess how far into her savings that emerald backless dress must have eaten, with how intricate the lace leaves and roses that it's made out of look. Laura's wrangled her hair into a simple but effective up-do pinned with a jeweled rose clip, dangling curls framing her carefully made-up face.  Laura's always been beautiful, but right now, Luci couldn't remember her own name if they paid her.

It must show in her face, because a pleased smile spreads across Laura's lips as she reaches the foot of the stairs. "What do you think?"

"I think she's going to be kicking herself for the next six months," Luci tells her frankly, and a faint blush settles on Laura's face.

"Come on, they’re about to start,” Laura says, as she takes Luci’s outstretched arm and they head for the hall.

*****

Laura can't seem to sit still during the ceremony.

The wedding itself is taking place in one of the lavishly decorated event halls in the hotel, white and violet flowers pouring from every surface. Her mind wasn't really on the beautiful decorations, however.

She'd glanced around before the procession, wondering where Deanna would be seated, and what it'd be like to see her again after all this time. She starts to wonder if this was all a mistake, whether she should have just moved on instead of getting hung up on someone who clearly didn't deserve her time from the beginning. There's no sign of her anywhere by the time the flower girl starts down the aisle, though.

Her jitters only increase as the ceremony wears on, and she doesn't even realized she's been tapping her fingers against her knee incessantly until Luci reaches over and laces their hands together.

"It's going to be fine," Luci murmurs, giving her a reassuring smile as she squeezes her hand.

Laura feels a wave of heat surging up her neck as she smiles back, grateful for the comfort.

She keeps her hand in Luci's until the ceremony ends.

*****

"Oh, gosh, no, I heard Dee had an emergency while she was on her way here and had to turn around."

After the wedding, once they'd been seated at their table in the reception hall, Laura had casually asked one of her old classmates who was seated with them whether they'd seen her ex around. Luci could see a mask fall over the brief glimmer of disappointment in Laura's face at the answer.

"I hope she's all right," Laura replies as she sits back, tuning out the rest of the conversation.

Luci sips champagne out of her glass as she watches her quietly. After all this, all the nervousness and preparation, Laura's unfinished business will remain unfinished. Luci isn't upset that she was dragged out here for nothing, that's the farthest thing from her mind. She's more preoccupied with the forced, apologetic smile Laura gives her a moment later.

Downing the rest of her glass, Luci sets it down and reaches for Laura's hand. "Come on, this is actually good music. We should encourage that," she says in answer to Laura's puzzled gaze. Laura's smile comes more easily now as she slides her hand into Luci's and allows her to lead her onto the dance floor.

"Thanks for coming here with me," Laura says quietly as Luci rests her hand against the small of her back and sways her along. "I really appreciate it." From this close, Luci can pick out patterns in the smattering of freckles that decorate her face, like constellations.

"I've actually had a good time, believe it or not," Luci answers with a laugh. And she genuinely has. Laura's intelligent and funny and few people can keep up with Luci the way she can. Spending an entire weekend with her has felt more like a much-needed vacation than a chore. Laura makes her forget that there's been an expiration date stamped on her back from the minute Ananke set foot in her backyard.

Laura laughs too as Luci spontaneously twirls her, carefree and natural; it's a sound Luci doesn't tire of hearing, as rarely as it happens. "Well, I'm probably going to bail early, but feel free to stick around. Maybe find yourself a hot groomsman or bridesmaid to party with," Laura says as she falls back in step with Luci.

"I thought you told your colleagues we were dating?" 

"Yeah, but I told them it was an open relationship. More scandalous to them, so you're basically free to go," Laura answers with a shrug.

"I'm good," Luci says simply.

They dance in silence for a minute, studying eachother.

It's Luci who speaks first. "You're really sure you'd want to give up all this? A wedding, 2.5 kids, the dog in the picket-fenced yard... to be like us?"

Laura tilts her head with a knowing smile. "Even if you had a choice, wouldn't you?"

And yeah, the ending blows, and sometimes Luci's desperately wished for a normal human life where she at least gets those _options_ , even if she'd never take them. But at the end of the day, there's nothing like the rush that comes from being on that stage, loved and hated, with everyone in the world knowing your name. They both understand that.

"You know you'd be stuck putting up with the same people century after century indefinitely, right?" Luci points out, and Laura's smile turns playful.

"That doesn't sound bad at all."

Lucifer's told herself a million times that it's a terrible idea to get involved beyond the occasional lay, that getting attached isn't worth the time or effort or the pain it will cause the other person. She shouldn't want this as badly as she does, not when she's meant to be alone. She shouldn't need this.

She's still berating herself when Laura leans forward and kisses her, and every reason she's had for keeping distance is washed away in the sweet warmth.

*****

"You know it won't be easy, right? From what I know, the process isn't pleasant," Luci tells her as they enter the suite and Laura kicks off her shoes, skin buzzing with excitement and anticipation and more. They're still talking about what it will take for Laura to become a god, though that's the last thing she feels like discussing right now.

She still can't believe she actually went through with it and kissed her, and Luci hadn't laughed at her or pushed her away. And she'd been especially surprised when Laura had suggested they head back to the bedroom as soon as the song had ended.

Luci's still talking as Laura takes the pins out of her hair, absently setting them down on a table with a hum.

"Hey, are you--" Luci's hand wraps around her wrist, and Laura turns to face her with a start. "Laura, I need you to listen to me," she says, tone uncharacteristically serious. There's a turmoil of emotions in her blue eyes that Laura's never seen before.

"There's a chance it might not work," Luci warns her, a hand rising to gently cradle Laura’s cheek, and it sounds like the possibility pains her to say. "There's a chance nothing will happen. And if it doesn't, nothing changes. You'll still be mortal, and I'll still be dead in two years."

There's something Luci's asking her, something hidden beneath the reminder that if Laura fails, she's missed her chance forever. Laura can't imagine a future where she's failed, a future where she's human and fragile and _nobody_. And then on top of everything, Luci will be gone. She can’t picture it, and she doesn’t want to.

"If that happens, then... I guess we'll make the best of whatever time we have," she replies, and evidently it's the right answer because Luci tilts her head up and covers Laura's mouth with her own.

Laura pulls her towards the bed, only breaking the kiss to let Luci help her out of her dress, the material left unceremoniously in a pile on the floor. Luci's clothes are gone a moment later, evaporating in a glow of light as she pushes Laura back onto the mattress, bodies sealed together as she licks her way back into Laura's mouth.

She tastes like fire and lightning and raw power, leaving Laura dizzy and consumed with the need for more.

And then Luci's hand slides down between Laura's legs, teasing the moist fabric until she whines, before sliding it aside to slip a finger, then two inside her. Laura breaks off with a stuttered gasp as she feels those fingers curl inside her, back arching as jolts of warmth race through her body. Luci's mouth finds her neck, biting and sucking until Laura's sure the bruise won't fade for weeks. Something about Luci staking a claim on her like that makes her heart race even faster.

When Laura finally comes, it's with her legs wrapped around Luci's head and her hands twisted inside her golden hair, Luci's name torn from her body as a reverent moan.

Luci waits until Laura's melting back onto the bed before extracting her fingers and bringing them to her mouth to lick them clean, aware of Laura's dazed eyes on her. Laura makes to sit up, but Luci's already crawling up to curl their bodies together, hand sweeping Laura's hair aside to press an affectionate kiss on her shoulder.

"I still need to--" Laura breaks off with a yawn. "-- do you," she finishes, and Luci wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her close.

"Later. We still have this room till tomorrow afternoon," she reminds her with a chuckle.

“Whatever happened to you not putting out?” Laura reminds her playfully.

Luci gently turns Laura’s head towards her to press an affectionate kiss against her temple. “A god can change her mind.”

**Author's Note:**

> I can usually be found thinking too much about WicDiv at Hushthenoise.tumblr.com. Come say hi!


End file.
